Yu-Gi-Oh DA Last Summer
by Youngbountygirl
Summary: The Seal of Orichalcose seems to have returned and making havoc, though that isn't the issue. The new leader seems to come from a teenage girl, who is the daughter of Yugi Moto. The three former members of the cult must rejoin together to stop Jaylin Yuki from taking every last soul in Japan. Prequel to Yu-Gi-Oh DA
1. Prologue: Evil Comes Forth

**I decided to write the prequel and sequel at the same time. This is the prequel of what happens last summer before Yu-Gi-Oh DA. There really doesn't need to be any explanations, since the only character everyone should be familiar with is Jaylin Yuki. So, the rest are cannon characters, new or were minor in Yu-Gi-Oh DA. Let's start this bad boy! Review please!**

It had been hard starting a new life. Several years ago, he had used the Orichalcose to seal the souls of the innocent and seek revenge for the death of his little brother. Alister had moved on since those years ago. He and his friends first rented an apartment for just the three of them, splitting the rent, before they each moved out and bought their own apartment. Alister now lived with his roommate, who was a very close friend he made, and worked as an Elementary School teacher

Alister packed everything, after school had ended. He was grading papers at the moment when he received a text from his roommate. It read, "u hungry?"

Alister smirked as he replied in text, "sure. Almost done."

"Great XD"

Sighing, Alister continued grading the children's papers and placing stickers on each one that received good grades. It was hard work, but it was worth the paycheck he received. Alister was happy and satisfied with the life he chose for himself. He felt he could finally move on from everything that happened with Dartz. It seemed to have been the same for his friends.

Alister drove on his way home. He was expecting his roommate to be cooking something good on the grill maybe. His roommate knew how to cook good food and enjoyed it too. The smile on Alister's face faded when he saw a line of cars in front and stopped.

"Damnit," Alistair groaned, hitting his hand on the steering wheel. It was probably an accident up ahead. He hated traffic. "Drunk drivers."

The only thing Alister could do was wait for the line to go forward. Then, he began noticing that something wasn't right when people started running from the direction the line of cars were facing, while screaming bloody murder. Alister furrowed his eyebrows before he noticed something appearing from the ground ahead of the line of traffic.

"What the...?" Alistair muttered, eyes widened as he saw what looked to be like a Duel Monster coming to life. Though, this one was unfamiliar to Alister. It was some sort of fiend warrior with claws like the Wolverine and spikes all over its body. It was attacking and slashing everyone and everything in its path.

Alister got out of the car and got out his duel disk. He ran toward the monster to see who it was that summoned this creature.

"Show yourself! Who summoned this thing!?" Alister shouted, running toward the location of the monster before freezing and gasping.

The duelist that summoned this monster was in a circle that Alister was all too familiar with, the Seal of Orichalcose. She was young, but seemed strong and her eyes glowed a bright gold. This girl had short brown hair and wore a forest green cloak over a pair of jean shorts and a white shirt under a pink vest. Her eyes showed no emotion, but the cold, evil and unmerciful look.

 _"How?"_ Alister whispered to himself. The girl seemed to now have heard him and smirked. She walked over to him, showing a stone resting on her palm Alister was also all too familiar with. "Wait stop! You don't know what you're doing!"

"Oh, I think I know _exactly_ what I'm doing!" The girl smirked as the stone glowed its brilliant green and another monster appeared, which was a bulky green monster that could almost be mistaken for a football player.

 _"Damnit,"_ Alister whispered as he got out his duel disk and summoned Gorlag. Gorlag began fighting the bulky green monster with everything it had.

"At this point, I might as well seal your soul and feed ya to the beast," the girl smirked, licking her lips.

"I'm not playing around! That thing is controlling you!"

"You actually believe I'm being controlled by this thing?" The girl asked, laughing aloud. "There's one little problem to your theory." She points to her forehead, which Alister notices isn't showing the Orichalcose hexagram. In fact, her eyes weren't even showing a hint of red like others that used the Seal of Orichalcose. They were glowing gold.

"What!? HOW!?" Alistair asked, both shocked and terrified.

"I'm not being brainwashed. I'm choosing this out of my own freewill."

"WHY!? You really would be willing to serve the Beast, even giving your soul to it!?" Alister asked with glaring eyes.

"I have my reasons," the girl said. "Infernal Guardian, switch your defense to attack and wipe the floor with Gorlag!" This monster seemed to have grown stronger before punching Gorlag and destroying it.

While Alister was cringing from the pain from his Gorlag being destroyed, the girl placed her hand in her pocket. There was a card that poked out that looked like an Orichalcose card, only it had the face of Yugi Moto.


	2. The Beast Attacks

**Just to make it clear for everyone, no Jaylin did not seal her father. In Yu-Gi-Oh DA, Jaylin actually mentioned how her father's soul was sealed in the first place. This isn't a spoiler. Yugi's soul was sealed in the middle of the interstate of California and Jaylin was basically stuck in a very hopeless situation. That's all you really need to know. Her touching the card where her father was sealed is basically hinting of that event instead of repeating what everyone should already know. But yes, Jaylin didn't seal her father's soul, though her joining the dark side is due to that event. Review please!**

Atem gasped, placing his hand over the location of his heart. He could feel someone or _something_ approaching at his direction. He gazed his eyes over the direction of where he felt this, this darkness from. It not only was coming close, but coming close quickly. There was no doubt whoever or whatever this was, was coming through flight or wind.

"You feel it too, don't you!?" Atem heard Mana cry out with fear in her voice.

"I feel it. We maybe in grave danger," Atem replied as Mana nodded with determination in her eyes.

"I'll be by your side."

"Pharaoh Atem, I'm guessing you felt it too?" Seth asked behind the curtain of Atem's room.

"All of us have," Atem replied, opening the curtain to his room. Seth gave him room to pass by. "There's no doubt it's heading for us."

"Surely, no field of darkness would dare to approach the Underworld. Everyone knows that anyone who dares to challenge us would challenge the Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt, who possess great powers beyond understanding," Seth replied with furrowed eyebrows.

"I know. What I fear is that whoever or whatever this is, is only aiming for one of us," Atem replied.

"Who?"

"I don't..." Atem replied, then felt its strength and familiarity, being it was now close enough. It... It couldn't be... _"No."_

"What?" Mana asked with concern in her eyes.

"The Seal of Orichalcose. I think I know whom this enemy is after," Atem said, marching down the hallway as Seth immediately chased after him.

"Pharaoh Atem, you can't be serious!" Seth replied, grabbing Atem's arm. "I won't let you go alone! I'll go with you!"

"You are of the light! This thing will kill you the instant it challenges you," Atem replied, turning his head toward Seth.

"Then, I will go!" Mana said with determination as Atem turned to her. "Master and I will go, if you refuse to take anyone else with you."

Atem stared at Mana with a mix of surprise and fear. Mana seemed determined, taking Atem's hand, then showing a small smile.

"We stopped this once and we can do it again, Pharaoh," Mana said as Atem chuckled.

"I keep telling you that only you are allowed to call me by my name, right?" Atem asked with a slight smirk.

"I... uh know...ish um..." Mana replied with a bit of pink on her cheeks as Atem chuckled.

"It's alright. I'll take you and Mahad with me. This maybe dangerous," Atem replied as Mana nodded, then ran to find Mahad.

"Your father isn't going to be happy," Seth replied.

"I know," Atem replied as he made his way to the Armory outside.

Atem prepared himself, placing on his armor and wielding his sword. He then made his way to the stables and as soon as he got out his horse, he heard footsteps running toward his direction. Mahad and Mana appeared with their own brand of armor as Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl. Seeing this made Atem smile.

"I don't know why you always insist on rushing into things," Mahad muttered.

"Oh co'mon, we haven't been in a battle in who knows how many years, aside from the duels," Mana replied perkily.

"Thank you for coming along. We'll be facing the Orichalcos again and I fear that it may be stronger than ever," Atem warned.

"Just don't do what you did last time. I don't want to lose you again," Mahad said fearfully.

"You won't," Atem promised as he climbed on his horse. "Follow me."

Atem rode off out of the royal stables with Mana and Mahad following him through flight. He rode through the open gates, the corner of his eyes catching a glimpse of his father. He could almost hear his name being called as the gates began to close. Atem was determined to not let the Orichalcos reach the Underworld. If it was him they were after, then he was determined to bring himself to them.

He stopped his horse as soon as he saw a figure in the distance with a single stone in his hand. He wore a forest green cloak of some sort, showing both eyes being of the color turquoise. This man was brainwashed by the Orichalcose like Dartz once was. Atem climbed off his horse, then unwield his sword. The man smirked as he walked up to Atem.

 _"I knew you would eventually come, Pharaoh,"_ the Brainwashed Drone replied darkly.

"I don't know what you're up to, but I know that stone is messing with your mind. You must release it! It's controlling you!" Atem cried out to the man.

 _"I know it is. You see, I'm controlling this man, Pharaoh,"_ the Brainwashed Drone smirked as his turquoise eye glowed brightly.

"You're the Beast?"

 _"That, I am. I made the mistake in hiding in the Shadows of my puppets. I believe, as the saying goes,_ if you want things done right, you have to do it yourself. _I tend to not make that mistake again,"_ The Beast replied, grinning. _"And, before I continue where I left off from last time, I will be sure to rid the ones that stopped me the first time."_ He glared. _"The Legendary Knights and their reincarnates. Oh, don't worry, Pharaoh Seth will be dealt with too. I haven't forgotten him or Jono."_

"Jono?"

 _"The one that possesses the Red-Eyes Black Dragon or have not all your memories returned? I suppose 3000 years is quite a long time to be stuck in a tomb. You've already forgotten your friends and replaced them with their reincarnates."_

"I don't have time for your games!" Atem cried out as he took out his sword and began his attack on the brainwashed man.

The Beast turned the green stone into a sword and it collided with Atem's sword. There was a dark laughter in the Beast's voice. Suddenly, a green circle spread out from the two opponents and circled around the field, keeping Mahad and Mana out.

"PHARAOH!" Mana cried out, banging her fists on the green wall.

"Be careful!" Mahad cried out.

Atem showed a face of determination as the swords parted from each other. The two opponents kept clashing their blades together, while also trying to avoid the other's blade. Atem could only guess that a cut from the Orichalcos blade and his soul would be gone. He had to avoid that green blade at all costs. The Beast kept aiming for Atem, who would perry the blade. He had to figure out a way to make the Beast drop the green sword and kick it away from him.

Atem's sword soon cut the hands holding the Orichalcos sword, making the Beast drop the sword. Atem wasted no chance to bring his blade to the Beast. Though, The beast took a hold of Atem's blade with two hands, creating a good grip without cutting himself. Atem could not get his sword to cut the beast.

 _"You cannot touch me, Pharaoh! It's over!"_ The Beast smirked as his foot began to reach for the blade.

Atem used his foot to move the blade from the grasp of the Beast. Then, the Beast moved his upper body, releasing the blade while dodging it. He began jumping for the green sword before Atem quickly grabbed it out of reflex. The Beast smirked widely as Atem gasped and felt the power of the Orichalcos surging through him like it did once long ago.

"PHARAOH NO!" Mahad cried in fear as the green symbol of the Orichalcos appeared glowing on Atem's forehead.

 _"Welcome back. You are under my power now, Pharaoh. Surrender your soul to me!"_ the Beast said in a dark and tempting voice as the turquoise eye began showing a slight glow.

Atem feel that temptation to want to give the sword to the Beast. It was strong and felt like the Ring of Power. Though, at the same time, Atem's eyes widened as he saw his grip on the sword trembling.

 _"What? Why aren't you obeying me!?"_ The Beast shouted angrily.

Atem glared at the beast, gripping the sword tightly, then slashed through the Beast with all his might or at least the body the Beast was using as a puppet. The cut made on the drone glowed green as the Beast glared with an awestruck expression.

 _"Impossible! How did you...!?"_ The Beast cried as the circle engulfed him and the soul of the puppet he used was taken.

Atem gasped as the sword turned into the green stone. His hand holding the stone was shaking as the temptation he felt began growing stronger. He could hear the pounding of his heart from the stress and pressure he was enduring. Mana and Mahad stood frozen in place as they watched the events that occurred. Mana finally made a move.

"ATEM!" Mana cried out, running to Atem.

Atem gasped, dropping the stone as the green glowing circle on his forehead disappeared and watched the stone fall on the ground. Mana came to his aid, watching in awe as the circle and the red glint in his eyes slowly disappeared. Atem grasped his chest where his heart was, feeling its pounding beats. He panted as he took a hold of Mana to calm himself down before both of them slowly dropped to their knees.

 _"I'm alright,"_ Atem whispered, his body still trembling.

 _"Thank the gods,"_ Mana whispered, smiling in relief.

There was a sound of horses galloping. Mahad turned to see Aknamkanon, Seth and the other priests under Atem and Aknamkanon, not counting Aknam, coming to their aide. Aknamkanon was the first to get off his horse, and run to his son. He had the look on his face Mahad was all too familiar with. It was one that demanded to know what happened or someone was going to die by his sword or word.

"Pharaoh Atem battled against the Beast of the Orichalcos. He took the Orichalcos in his hands, but seems to not have been in control of it completely like last time," Mahad explained.

"What do you mean!?" Aknamkanon asked with glaring eyes.

"I don't know. His hands were shaking, but he did not heed to the Beast."

"I could feel the Beast inside me trying to take control of me," Atem said, his hand still clutching over his heart. "But, it was as if I was keeping the door to my heart locked and he was trying to pry it open. It took almost all my strength to keep him out."

"How is this possible?" Mahad asked.

"I don't know... but, Seth is in danger... including Jono, except I do not know who Jono is," Atem said.

Aknamkanon's face turned to awe and pain. He sighed, then said, "Jono is a friend of yours... a commoner. You had a very bad habit of sneaking out of the palace and into the Marketplace to play con games with others. You made friends with several bad characters, or at least most of them were bad. Jono was certainly a bad influence. Teana was alright, but often a victim of Jono's games. Then, there was the thief king."

"Bakura!? He was once my friend!? WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME!?" Atem asked with fury in his eyes.

"We couldn't! It would have been hard to defeat him otherwise. Your bond to your friends was your strength, but your weakness as well. You saved his soul as a result of that bond. We were ordered by you personally to only show you the bonds with us, because you could not endure the pain of being forced to lay a hand on one. It was bad enough you were forced to do the same to your uncle," Mana explained with sad and painful eyes as Atem looked at her with such awe. "I'm sorry. I should have told you."

Atem couldn't hold his anger forever and sighed before getting up. He said, "I don't care much for what I said or ordered in the past. Right now, I need _all_ my friends safe, including those I do not remember."

"And what? You plan to do that shit by yourself, Atem?" An angry, yet familiar voice questioned.

Atem turned and saw a woman in a rather elegant black dress. She looked to be royalty, but also familiar. She was carrying someone over her shoulder, someone that Atem knew all too well. _It couldn't be._ Atem was in utter shock.

"Is that...? Yugi!" Atem cried out as the woman placed her hand up.

"He's unconscious. We've got bigger problems and there's no time to waste, while my Master is wrecking havoc in the world of the living," the woman said with eyes that showed determination to get things done.

"How do you know me and what's your connection to Yugi?" Atem asked.

"Long time friend and your _aibou_ is my master's father. I'll say more along the way. Right now isn't the time. Yugi needs a place to rest and we need to prepare for battle," the woman said as Atem's eyes widened in surprise.

"This is the Underworld! No mere mortal is allowed there and you are certainly not allowed there, Dark Queen, Ruler of the Shadow Realm!" Seth said with glaring eyes.

"Who said I was joining with you shitheads in the Underworld? I was only here to find Atem's ass and take Yugi to one of my palaces along the way to heal up. As for if Atem is coming or not is up to him. Judging by his expression, I'd say that's a yes," the woman smirked.

"Son..." Aknamkanon said as Atem turned to his father, then to the woman.

"Do you know where my other friends are?" Atem asked.

"I do and we'll need them. Joey Wheeler and Seto Kaiba have been fed to the Beast. He'll be going after you, Yugi, your cousin and Jono to wipe out anyone who might summon the Legendary Knights."

"If my cousin is going, I'm going too. You have my sword, my Queen," Seth replied as the woman showed a smirk.

"That's a first."

"I beg your pardon, but what is your name?" Atem asked.

"I'm Jezerel, the Dark Queen and ruler of the Shadow Realm. You often called me Jez," Jezerel replied with a kind smile.

"And you say your Master is Yugi's offspring? I have met her before long ago and there's no denying that you both are exact replicas of each other. It seems as if fate binds us in more ways than one."

"You could say that. You are an important friend of mine. It's good to see you again, even under dire circumstances," Jezerel replied as Atem smiled brightly at the notion. Her face showed seriousness. "We must get going."

"Let's," Atem agreed as he mounted himself on his horse.

"We shall come with you, Pharaoh," Mahad said as Atem smiled.

"Thank you."

"Son, promise that you will return when this is through," Aknamkanon pleaded.

"I will return, Father," Atem promised.

Jezerel picked up the Orichalcos stone Atem used, then placed it in her breast before mounting herself on her horse, Yugi lying frontwards in the back of the horse unconscious and strapped safely. The three on horses galloped across the dark plains as the two magicians followed through flight. Jezerel made haste as she rode toward the palace to plan her next move. Determination was in her eyes. She had to save her Master before she became so trapped in darkness that there would be no way out. Jezerel could not let Jaylin suffer the same fate she did long ago.


	3. Investigation

**What happened with Atem is the first clue to how someone could use the Orichalcos without being controlled. There will be more to it than that as the story continues. Review please!**

Mai walked alongside her two friends Valon and Raphiel. They stepped through the destruction of what was left of the city where the two men lived. They were searching for Alister. It was full of buildings torn, cars wrecked as if they were flipped or tossed and bodies were lying on the ground without souls. Mai kept her composure as she carefully examined each body. Jaylin really took out everyone.

"That girl really is a monster," Raphiel muttered.

"This is the Orichalcos' doing. Jaylin wouldn't do this. I know Yugi said that Jaylin has a very cruel side to her, but..." Mai said with a hurtful tone, staring at the soulless victims.

"Well, I don't know how else to get that girl to break from that spell of hers," Valon said, sighing.

Mai could only stare at the destruction before her, not believing what she was seeing. Suddenly, everyone heard a sound as they noticed someone limping through the wreckage. The three ran to the person, recognizing him. There also seemed to be someone with him, trying to support him.

"Alister, are you alright!?" Mai asked worriedly.

 _"Couldn't be better,"_ Alister replied sarcastically, limping on his hurt leg.

"You're lucky I saved your ass," the man behind him said with glaring eyes.

"I didn't need your help."

"Who are you?" Valon asked with folded arms.

"Tom, I'm his roommate. I knew Al was in trouble as soon as he didn't reply to my texts. I tell ya, it was crazy. There were monsters _everywhere_ and he almost got his soul taken by that girl. Luckily, I stepped in to save him as soon was he was about to be thrown into the ocean below," Tom replied with a smirk.

"It's not just any girl, Tom. Her father's soul was taken. That's why she's- ack!" Alister replied with glaring eyes before cringing at his hurt leg.

"Yugi's soul was taken!?" Mai gasped, filled with unbelief.

"Ye- Wait, this girl's is the daughter of Yugi Moto!?" Alister asked with awestruck eyes.

"No way! She looks way too old! Yugi must've gotten banged during high school or something," Tom smirked.

"No, dumbbell! She was obviously adopted! Only _you_ would think that," Alister snapped, whacking Tom by the back of the head.

"Ow!"

"Whatever the case, we need to get your leg cared for before it gets infected," Raphiel said as Alister groaned.

"I think the hospitals here is still in one piece," Tom informed the trio.

"Can you take us to the nearest hospital?" Valon asked.

"Sure," Tom replied happily as he helped his roommate hobble to the nearest hospital, the other three joining along.

Mai suddenly heard her phone ring, and she answered immediately, "hello?"

 _"Did you find anything?"_ Mokuba asked on the other line.

"Jaylin caused a lot of destruction. Though, she seems to have left the hospitals alone. I think Jaylin is still in there somewhere," Mai replied.

"Jaylin isn't being brainwashed. I don't know why, but I can tell that the stone hasn't effected her at all," Alister pointed out.

"What!?" Mai responded with widened eyes and risen eyebrows.

"You heard me. Though, Jaylin has spared the children, mothers with children, sick and the elderly," Alister replied. Mai stood frozen in shock for a few seconds, trying to take all of this in.

* * *

Mokuba sighed on the other line, then said, "we got the same results in every area that Jaylin struck through half of California." He was inside his office at Kaiba Corp. in Los Angeles, California. Compared to when he was 12, his hair was cut to a nice short cut and was wearing a nice black suit with a blue tie. "Keep searching the area and keep me informed. We need to find Jaylin as soon as possible!"

 _"We're doing it. I can't guarantee we're going to win, if we do duel against her. She's been trained well by the King of Games himself,"_ Mai warned. Her voice seemed slightly more hallow.

"I know. We'll think of something. Call me when you find something," Mokuba replied before hanging up the phone.

"Any good News?" An assistant asked Mokuba, who was tall, elegant, had long blond hair with a black hairband and wore a black suit and skirt with a blue tie. Her teal eyes showed determination. She also seemed to be carrying one hand full of documents and the other coffee.

"Nothing," Mokuba replied bitterly as the woman handed him the coffee. "Thank you. Any good News on your side?"

"I found reports of other attacks. Jaylin seems to be hitting Nebraska as well."

 _"At this point, our President might sent nukes after her,"_ Mokuba muttered, grabbing a hold of his hair in frustration. "Damnit, why did Yugi have to raise someone that could destroy cities and states, maybe even countries at this point, if she keeps it up!?"

"If you keep chasing her, she's only going to go farther and farther away. I suggest we predict where she will strike next."

"There's one problem. We might end up dealing with the US Army. If they aren't involved already, I will be surprised," Mokuba replied, glaring at his computer screen.

"Then, we need to beat them to it. You still have your father's military weapons with you, don't you?"

"Rebecca, that's classified information and try to keep that down. My brother's already killed me for giving you too much classified information."

"You know no one is here on this floor or you wouldn't be calling me by my first name, _Mr. Kaiba_ ," Rebecca smirked as Mokuba looked up with reddened cheeks.

 _"I don't have time for this,"_ Mokuba muttered, getting up from his chair and walking toward the window. There was destruction below the tower from when the one of the so called _Prophets of the Orichalcos_ attacked and claimed the souls of Seto Kaiba and many others. Now, Mokuba had to take over in his brother's stead.

Two arms were wrapped around Mokuba's waist. The man felt their cheeks touch, while those teal eyes stared out the window with him.

"I'm worried too. We'll get them back, your brother and Yugi too. I'll also have your back along the way," Rebecca promised with her soft and sweet smile.

"It won't be easy. It wasn't easy the first time either. My brother almost lost this company that time. It may happen again."

"That won't happen, because we have three geniuses and the best firewall money could buy," Rebecca promised with a simple wink.

"Wait, Schroeder Corp. agreed to help!?" Mokuba asked with surprised and glimmering eyes. At this point, the two parted.

"Not really, though Leon has agreed to help and will keep us informed behind the scenes. He messaged me not too long ago. He's not planning on letting his brother face this problem alone and risk ruining their company."

"Ha! I love that guy! We've got the whole gang back together!" Mokuba grinned excitedly.

 _"You got that right!"_ A voice was heard on the screen of Mokuba's computer, who was from non other than Noa Kaiba.

"Noa, got any info on Jaylin?" Mokuba asked.

 _"She's on her way to Las Vegas,"_ Noa said, lips scrunched together.

"Damnit!"

"Is there a way we can reach there?" Rebecca asked.

 _"The real question is if you can stand a chance against Yuki. I'm afraid she's not someone that can be easily snapped out of, especially since she's not acting like this from brainwashing. I heard what she said on the traffic camera, when she was fighting against Alister. We need to get to the root of the source. If we go after Jaylin, we're going after the wrong enemy,"_ Noa said.

"Are you saying there's no way to help her?" Rebecca asked with concerned eyes.

 _"There is, but it isn't us. Right now, we need to focus on the real enemy. That Beast is using Jaylin as his puppet in Dartz's place. All of this is perfect for revenge against the three wielders of the Legendary Knights. How I see it, the Beast is sealing the souls of the ones wielding the cards, while targeting their loved ones. He's trying to take out the ones that could defeat him. Targeting Jaylin was probably clever on his part, considering her father's soul is inside the beast at the moment."_

"In other words, Kaiba Corporation is in jeopardy," Mokuba said with an intense facial expression.

 _"Not just Kaiba Corporation. You're in trouble as well, Mokuba,"_ Noa said, his eyes gazing from Mokuba's view. Rebecca gazed at Mokuba's direction with concern. _"Mai, Tea and the Moto's as well. Mai being near the enemy doesn't help in the slightest, though she does have a huge advantage with being a former user of the Orichalcos."_

"Noa, you said we need to aim for the real enemy. Do you have any idea where the Beast is?" Rebecca asked.

 _"No, but it might be possible to find him, if we keep track of the location of the Prophets."_

"Inform us, if you find anything," Mokuba said firmly.

 _"Roger. Over and out,"_ Noa replied as the screen is replaced with a document of some sort.

Mokuba returned his focus to the computer and began sending a private email to Leon. While doing this, his eyes glued to the screen, he began talking with Rebecca.

"See that you contact and inform everyone in Kaiba Corp. about this," Mokuba said.

"Hehe roger," Rebecca winked before kissing the side of Mokuba's head, then heading out of the room and down the hall, her high heels clicking along the way.

"Heh, and Seto says relationships are pointless," Mokuba smirked.

* * *

Inside Schroeder Corp. Zigfried heard the phone ring, then answered, "yes?" There was a huge pause, then he shouts, "WHAT!? WHAT DO YOU MEAN SETO KAIBA IS IN A COMA!? ... I see, so his brother is taking over in his stead."

At this point, Leon had already recieved a private email from Mokuba. Despite the bitter rivalry between Seto Kaiba and Zigfried von Schroeder, Leon and Mokuba were very close. Ever since the Grand Pix, they had run-in's from time to time, and eventually developed a close friendship during their high school years when the Kaiba Corp. and Schroeder Corp. buildings each were nearby in Las Angeles. Because of this, they were able to enter the same high school and college. Rebecca eventually entered the same college and worked for Kaiba Corp. to pay for her college tuition.

There was also Noa Kaiba, who was the glue of their little pack. Leon had first met Noa during his middle school days when he was homeschooled and had no other friends. At the time, he didn't know Noa was a cybernetic being, whose brain was downloaded into the Kaiba Corp. main computer near its military base before eventually being transported inside the world wide web. At the time, he was lonely and Leon was the only real friend Noa had. It wasn't until Leon became close with Mokuba that he discovered who Noa Kaiba really was. The four of them created a pact and always stuck together. Seto and Zigfried were aware of their friendship, and made sure it was kept personal, never to interfere with their loyalty to the companies they each worked for. Thanks to Noa, it was made possible.

Leon peeked his head from his desktop with worrysome eyes toward his brother. His face showed nerviousness, only being hidden by the glasses upon his face.

"I am aware of the Orichalcos incident and I will not let any of our stockholds disappear and put us out of business!" Zigfried shouted.

Leon moved his eyes to his computer screen, seeing worry in Noa's eyes, whose face was shown on his computer screen like a video chat. Leon whispered, _"upload everything into this."_ He placed a flashdrive in the slot of the computer tower as the upload bar appeared above Noa's head.

"LEON!" Zigfried shouted, obviously not in the mood. Leon rose his head up.

"Yes!"

"Check on the stocks of Schroeder Corp, and make sure to put the system on high alert. Also, I will not allow you to talk to Mokuba Kaiba. Now, that he is in charge of Kaiba Corp. in his brother's stead, if I find you two talking, I-"

"Yes, Mr. Schroeder. I'm already on it and I know not to talk to the new Mr. Kaiba," Leon replied professionally.

"Good," Zigfried replied with a small smile.

By the time Zigfried said that, the upload was complete and Leon quietly took out the flash drive, and placed it in his pocket. Afterwards, Noa went on to deleting the message to Leon sent by Mokuba. Zigfried walked to Leon, seeing the screen now was showing the data base of Schroeder Corp. A proud smirk appeared upon his lips before he turned, and left the room. It was only afterwards that his smirk turned into a distressed expression.

 _"You know I would fire you, if it means to protect you. Please don't do anything reckless,"_ Zigfriend prayed in a whisper, his eyes looking over in Leon's direction. He knew the bond between Leon and Mokuba was strong. It would be this time of all times that would truely test Leon's loyalty to this company.

Leon was focusing only on placing more security in the Schroeder Corp. data base. He knew his brother would watch his every move. His friends depended on him for information of what was going on behind the scenes. Zigfried would obviously not work with Kaiba Corp, despite this crisis being the kind that would need it. In many ways, Leon had to work behind the scenes to protect his brother and his friends. It was his duty.


	4. The Real Enemy

**Hey guys! Man, I've been having writer's block on this particular chapter. I didn't really know how to start it. I mean I know the plot and how it's supposed to go, but sometimes I just don't know what a particular chapter is supposed to be to go from Point A to Point B. But anyways, here it is. Review please!**

A few days earlier, Yugi was driving on the Interstate of California. Jaylin wasn't sure where, but she was certain they had left the San Andres Fault. Her and Yugi were on vacation at the moment. They would sometimes have these vacation sprees together, just the two of them. Yugi would save a percentage of his paycheck for weeks like these, being he enjoyed every moment him and Jaylin were together. It was also good for her, being she couldn't have too much dark energy built inside her. It was no different for Yugi. They both always needed those times of enjoying themselves to cool down the dark energy inside them.

Jaylin was changing the radio station, since the last one was starting to show static. There was a variety of stations that seemed very different and each of them were in English. Though, there was one particular station that stuck out to her.

 _"This is 77.6 the Bull, bringing you the best Country-Western Music,"_ The radio host said.

"There we go," Jaylin said. "I get that they want to be more hip, but you can't beat the old bango and fiddle playin'."

"I can agree with ya there. You know, Professor Hawkins once took Rebecca and I camping. He'd get his old bango and sang old country-western songs from his day. Rebecca would sing along. She also could yodel," Yugi replied.

"What's yodel?"

"It's a kind of thing you do with your voice. I can't do it. I tried and Rebecca said I sounded like I was choking a pine cone."

Jaylin burst out laughing, then asked, "but isn't that what makes American Country songs so interesting? The fact they sound like they're choking on cigarettes, while singing about beer, bars, ladies and depressing shit. Their Square-Dancing's fun, though."

"Don't let the Hawkins' hear that or they'd tease you about your J-Pop."

"I don't even listen to that. I'm more into Baby Metal."

"Oh good lord."

"You listen to it too, Dad. It totally matches, since you already dress like you just came out of a goth club."

"Only when I'm dueling. Otherwise, I dress in work clothes."

"Well, yeah, but-" Jaylin said, then she felt something or someone nearby with a great amount of darkness. Hers and Yugi's eyes flashed gold and red as soon as they felt it.

"Hold on, Princess. We might be heading for-" Yugi said right before dark fog began heading for them. "AH!"

Neither Jaylin or Yugi could see anything, it was pitch black all around them. Yugi pushed the breaks, halting the car to a stop before using his darkness to see through the black fog to make sure the car was on the side of the road. Him and Jaylin didn't hesitate to get out of the car. They were the only ones capable of seeing through this pitch blackness, even concealing themselves in the darkness.

"Stay with me, Princess," Yugi said as Jaylin nodded, then held her father's hand.

Other cars began spinning, swirving and crashing into each other. No one had the capabilities to see through this darkness, being they weren't dark users or trained in using dark magic. Jaylin and Yugi still used their powers to slow down as many cars as they could to save as many civilians as possible. It wasn't long before Yugi felt a presence not too far from him. He glared, showing his crimson red eyes. Jaylin didn't hold back in showing her golden once.

"Are you here to challenge me, because I'm ready, if you are," Yugi warned.

"Hahahaha you already were and lost," the figure smirked as a green blade cut right through Yugi's abdomen. The laugh grew louder as Yugi gasped. The glowing green blade, it looked... oh no!

"Princess, get out of here!" Yugi shouted before coughing.

"DADDY!" Jaylin cried, witnessing the horrific display in front of her. She turned to the figure and glared at him. "I won't-"

"Don't... challenge him! It's the Seal of Orichalcos. He will take your soul as well," Yugi warned as Jaylin turned to her father, then watched as a bright green light shown upon him from the sky, the ground showing a hex that looked like the same one from Fullmetal Alchemist. Just then, Yugi's body became limp and a soul card slowly fell on the ground.

Jaylin, with glowing gold eyes, slowly picked up the card, then looked back at the figure.

"What is this?" Jaylin asked.

"The soul of the Legendary Knight of Tamias. I have done my job," the figure stated.

Just as the figure was about to leave, a strong darkness began to pull against him like a rope. He looked back and saw the strength of the girl's darkness. Jaylin would not let this guy leave so easily. She was going to get answers.

"I want answers and you are going to tell me everything," Jaylin said.

"In that case, how about you talk to my leader? He will reveal everything to you," the figure smirked as Jaylin showed one of her own.

"Gladly," Jaylin replied.

* * *

Waking up, Jaylin moaned from the sunlight peeking from the curtains. It was sunrise. Sighing, she got up, sitting on the side of the bed as she walked to what used to be a large town and now hardly showed signs of civilization. Well, she did her task. This is what the Great Leviathan wanted and she gave them to that... thing. Jaylin didn't know what to call it.

The door opened and Jaylin turned, seeing a small, fragile child.

"Are you okay?" The child asked as Jaylin smiled.

"No need to worry, kiddo," Jaylin replied softly, kneeling to the child's level, then petting his head.

"I heard you rolling on the bed. Did you have a bad dream?"

"It's fine. Grown ups tend to shake it off."

"Oh... I see," The child nodded, staring down at the ground.

"Do you need anything? I can make breakfast," Jaylin offered.

"Scrambled eggs with cheese. I like that," the child replied with a soft smile.

"Scrambled eggs coming up!" Jaylin replied, then set herself off to the kitchen of this building, which happened to be an orphanage.

After collecting a good amount of souls, Jaylin needed a place to stay. She spotted an orphanage. The children there were told to stay inside, so they had not known who attacked the town. They offered Jaylin a place to sleep and promised to keep quiet of her stay here. She fed and cared for them, so they instantly loved her. Though, they also weren't stupid. They knew she was hiding something dark within her heart. Though, they felt more kindness from her, than darkness.

* * *

Alister was resting on the chair in the hospital, being he was still injured from his encounter with Jaylin. He could not get that scene out of his head. There was no doubt Jaylin needed to be stopped, but there was something bigger at play. Her role for the Great Laviathan was to collect as many souls to revive him. Alister would know that, being he once was in Jaylin's shoes, but there was something different. Jaylin was not being brainwashed or controlled by anyone. She was working at her own freewill, possibly as an attempt to save Yugi.

Seto Kaiba's soul was taken, including Joey Wheeler's, meaning that the Great Leviathan planned to take them out from the start, so he would no longer have to deal with the three legendary knights like last time. So, the question remained how to stop this beast without the three legendary knights? Neither Alister or his friends planned on giving up that easily, not even Mai. She called Tea, who was still teaching a class in Domino City. She was devastated to hear that Yugi's soul was taken and Jaylin had become the pawn of the Great Leviathan. She didn't seem too surprised either, which made Mai wonder what it was that Tea knew about Jaylin that she didn't.

Alister spent his free time watching the News about the devastation and propaganda, until he heard the door open. His waist was in bandages and was sitting on the couch. It was Tea, who brought out four other kids: three girls and a boy. The boy looked to be like one of those kids involved in some sort of gang, while the girls looked normal for the most part, especially the younger one. Alister raised his eyebrows at the children.

"These are Jaylin's friends. They heard what happened and want to tag along," Tea explained.

"How many orphanages do you got around here?" The boy asked.

"You are?" Alister asked.

"Shon Rhinoksi, now are you gonna answer my question or...?" Shon asked nonchalantly. Rude kid.

"I don't know. Why?"

"Jay is there cooking for the kids."

"What?"

"I've known that bitch, since we were babies. She's a mommy when it comes to orphans. Used to make rice balls for us during our preschool days," Shon smirked.

"Ain't that the truth," One twin girl agreed, who had dyed red hair.

"Is it true? Did Jaylin really do all this?" The younger girl with long blue hair asked with devistation on her facial features as she stared in horror at the destruction outside.

"The streets are painted with Jaylin Yuki. She can be a real bitch as your enemy. Good thing I wasn't at the front row seats or I'd be deader than those bodies on the streets," Shon snorted.

"You're not funny and never were the first time you made a death joke," the twin with the black hair glared.

"That's because you girls get emotional over everything."

"I don't find it funny either," Alister glared.

"I'm not the one, who got himself fucked up. Then again, I'd be dead if I did encounter Jaylin at this stage," Shon laughed.

"Don't worry about him. He's a complete dick, but he's known Jaylin longer than us. He knows how she works and where she'll go next," the twin with the red hair assured Alister.

Alister almost rolled his eyes. He figured that, but the girls seemed genuinly nice, while the youngest was still in shock. He asked, "what'er your names?"

"Katal Yakasha, this is my sister, Kathle Yakasha. The young one there is Blair Flannigan," Katal introduced herself, the girl with the dyed red hair, as Alister nodded.

"Aside from Blair, you all seem to be taking this well," Alister replied.

"Have you met Jaylin in person?"

"Not really, but I don't see a psychotic teenage girl being the type Yugi would choose to raise as his own."

"Jaylin's a bitch, but she's not psychotic! Watch yourself, big boy!" Shon defended with sharp, gray-blue eyes that could kill. Kid had a mouth, but he seemed to care about Jaylin a lot.

"You do realize I'm 35, right?" Alister asked with stubborn eyes.

"You do realize I don't give a fuck, right?"

"Shon, stop! His first meeting with Jaylin wasn't the best, as you can already see out there," Kathle rebuked, pointing out the window.

"Doesn't matter. He used to work for that Orichalcos monster guy! He's one to talk when it comes to destruction. Jaylin is practically a saint compared to him!" Shon pointed out.

"I didn't destroy cities or towns," Alister defended.

"No, you hijacked a plane, forced a minor to duel you on said plane, then forced a younger minor to drive said plane. You noticed Jaylin never touched any children, Senior citizens, ill or disabled. That's why this hospital is still in one piece," Shon replied as Alister's eyebrows rose.

"How'd you...?"

"Mr. Kaiba often babysat Jaylin, while Pops was going to school. That dude told some interesting tales about you bozos," Shon smirked.

"Kaiba's still pissed at you for putting Mokuba in harms way and almost killing them," Katal pointed out as Alister sighed guiltily.

"Fine, perhaps I was out of line by calling your friend psycho. I'm under a lot of pressure at the moment and with those bizzarre powers she has in her grasp and all the legendary knights gone, we need a Plan B. If you guys can help me stop Jaylin from destroying the country, if not aim for Japan as her next target, I want to know."

"You want my suggestion? Don't go after Jaylin. She will kill you," Shon said.

"Are you serious?" Alister glared.

"He's right. Jaylin is not the real enemy here. It's the Great Leviathan. If you target Jaylin, even if you manage to knock her out, her Ka will kill you and she's worse than Jaylin with almost no moral compass," Kathle replied, showing a frown.

"Bitch number 2 probably already has problems in the Spirit World," Shon replied, staring outside.

"But, we can't let Jaylin destroy more than she already has! Are you saying we should just let her kill and destroy more!?" Blair cried in outrage.

"Of course that's not what I'm saying! I'm saying that we need to aim for the real enemy. Jaylin is in the worst position possible and unless we take out the boss, she's going to stay in that position. Right now, she's angry and hurt. She'll be in more pressure, if you decide to play sacrifice and you won't hurt your friends on her. Jaylin doesn't work like that! She ain't Superman. She will kill you!"

"Kills without hesitation. What kind of killer did Yugi raise?" Alister muttered.

"I'll be honest, but Jaylin has issues not even we can understand," Kathle replied, shaking her head sadly.

"What's your say in this?" Alister asked Tea.

"They're right. Jaylin is a killer that holds a strong moral compass. She always has had anger management problems as a child. That's why I got her into dance classes," Tea replied.

"That's why this doesn't surprise you?" Alister asked, looking outside at the destruction.

"Partly. I've also seen Yugi's powers as well. Not as powerful, but it was enough to destroy a whole island," Tea explained.

"Pardon?" Alister asked with widened eyes.

"Yugi was devastated, but when he couldn't control his powers and kept hurting us, he ran away to an island. He made friends and fell in love with a young girl he killed by accident. He's never been the same since."

Alister blinked, then stared at the ground. It would make sense for Yugi to adopt a girl with issues with controlling her powers and emotions. To kill someone you love? It would devastate anyone. Alister was devastated when his little brother was murdered. How could anyone not be devastated when someone you love is killed, especially by your own hands. Maybe Jaylin was someone Yugi could see himself in, in how both had powers and emotions beyond their control. After her father was taken, Jaylin would start rampaging and destroying cities, but there seemed to be more behind it. Something terrifying.

After a sigh, a bright light began to shown from the inside of Tea's purse. Everyone gasped as Tea dug into her purse and found the source of the light. It was from a single card in Yugi's deck that Tea kept, after Yugi's soul was taken. All of Yugi's belongings were given to Tea, being she was the closest family in the country, after arriving. Jaylin not picking up her father's deck only made sense, being she would not want to contaminate the deck with what she was getting herself involved in.

Tea's hand trembled as she picked up the card that read Judgment of the Pharaoh. The light shined brighter, then became a transcended figure of Atem. Everyone gasped as Alister stared at a green stone that appeared on the floor. He glared.

"Other Yugi?" Tea asked with a trembling voice.

 _"Now, there's a name I haven't heard in years,"_ Atem teased.

"You're using the Orichalcos to summon yourself here," Alister said with glaring eyes.

"Good to see you too. I only have a limited amount of time to use this. Former users of the Orichalcos are able to use its powers without the brainwashing effect, but it will only last for as long as they've previously used it. It's brainwashing works like a virus where it's dangerous, but the body can become immune to its dangerous effects," Atem explained.

"How did you find this out?" Alister asked with folded arms.

"He totally used it in a duel," Shon smirked, chuckling.

 _"It... was an accident,"_ Atem admitted, blushing.

"Bullshit!"

"Did they try taking your soul too?" Tea asked, after calming herself from the shock.

 _"Yes and failed. Also, a friend of mine was able to save Aibou from the beast, though his soul is tired. He's in the spirit world right now,"_ Atem replied.

"A friend?" Blair asked.

"Someone from my memories. She... I think she's Jaylin's Ancient Self. She often calls her 'Master.'"

"It's Bitch 2," Shon replied.

"Jezerel the Dark Queen, we've met a couple of times. She saved Yugi and you both have met before?" Tea asked.

"Yes. We're going to meet with Dartz to find out what the Great Beast is plotting and what he wants with Jaylin. I can't talk much longer. The former users of the Orichalcos must use it again. It's the gateway to where the Beast lies," Atem said, grabbing a hold of his forehead as his eyes began to show bits of red. He ten disappeared.

"I guess he could only take ten minutes before that Orichalcos can take him," Shon said.

"That must've been how long he had it when dueling Raphiel," Tea said.

"So, we can use it longer," Alister muttered, staring out the window, then at a green stone. He snatched it as it instantly turned into an Orichalcos card. "The gate to where the Great Beast lies, huh?"


	5. Atem's Old Friends

**Lol I had a feeling that people would not like Shon very much. That pretty much is his character in a nutshell. He's not a likable character, but very useful. He's one of those characters you just want to punch in the face, but you know he makes very good and rational points. This story will shine more on the twins and Shon. Review please!**

Atem had to calm himself down from using the Orichalcos. It didn't take more than ten minutes before he began feeling the darkness trying to rid all common sense from his mind. He stayed inside a spare bedroom Jezerel had in her palace, inside the Spirit World, where Yugi was resting. He had been asleep for about an hour now and still had not woken up. Whatever Yugi was facing in the real world certainly took a hard toll on him.

There was a knock at the door. Atem turned to face the door, which still amazed him that Jezerel added that to the palace. She certainly leveled up her palace to make it almost like a mix between the medieval castles of England and the modern palaces of India, especially the colors. It was a marvel.

"Come in!" Atem called as the door opened to reveal non other than Dartz.

"My apologies, Pharaoh. Her majesty told me that now wouldn't be a good time to disturbe you, but I wanted to know how you were feeling," Dartz said.

Atem sighed, then replied in a gruff tone, "I feel fine... for the most part."

"Glad to hear," Dartz replied with a bitter smile.

"You seem to have a terrible time listening to wise words," Jezerel replied, sighing as she walked to the duo. She faced Atem and smirked. "You look terrible."

 _"Glad someone noticed,"_ Atem muttered with a slight glare.

"Always happy to help," Jezerel replied with a smirk, then her expression turned to a normal one. "How much do you remember about me?"

"... not much. I feel like I know you, but I don't recall any memories of you," Atem admitted honestly.

"When you're ready, I can tell you as much as I know without overwhelming you."

"... would you tell me one? A small fraction?" Atem asked, his voice sounding desperate, yet sad.

Jezerel nodded, then walked to Atem, showing a small smile. She started, "when we were young, you found me alone hiding in the bushes. At the time, I ran away from home. You gave me fruit and met all my Hero friends. That was how we met."

"Strange," Atem replied, furrowing his eyebrows slightly.

"Isn't it? Before you were Pharaoh, you were willing to give up everything for Yubel and I. The powers you hold now are only half of what you have."

"Half?" Atem asked with raised eyebrows as Jezerel nodded sadly.

"Your father could not bare to watch his only son lose his birthright. If you had kept your powers, you would have remained with Yubel and I in the Shadow Realm. As a child, your father brought you to the three Egyptian gods to harnest half of your powers, so you would take the birthright. He knew if he had told you the reason, you would choose us, to stay with your friends. Your uncle Aknam knew this as well. Perhaps that's why he turned himself to darkness, only to betray you, the Pharaoh."

"I... I don't understand... I..." Atem said, glaring at the floor and knowing deep inside that Jezerel was telling the truth. "Father lied to me."

"Of course he lied to you. Fathers will do anything to protect their children from danger. Yugi is just as guilty. Your father cheated to protect you from a dark fate he knew you would choose to stay with those you consider family. He knows if you would still make the choice. In time you will be given that choice again and may have to fight for it," Jezerel smirked slightly, then sighed. "For now, we have bigger problems to resolve."

"What is your plan, your Majesty," Dartz asked.

"Obviously, the three knights can't return to the real world like before. We'll have to rely on our friends to deal with things in their world, while we deal with them here. The beast will start devouring souls here very soon. As for Yugi, he needs to find a way to stop my Master from bringing more chaos."

"But, if the knights are not summoned, how can the beast ever be stopped? Only they have the crystal swords made to go against the Orichalcose Stone. They no longer exist, since they were destroyed," Dartz mentioned.

"I never said they couldn't be summoned. They can't be summoned in the real world though."

"What do you mean?" Atem asked.

"That's where Seth and Jono come in."

"So, Seth and Jono can also summon the legendary knights?"

"Yes, it was why I was in Egypt during the time I worked for the Beast. You may not remember Pharaoh, but you, Seth and Jono defeated me then too," Dartz said.

"I still don't know who Jono is," Atem stated.

"Why don't you ask him? He's outside. He's been worried about you all day," Jezerel said.

"He is? All I saw was..." Atem stated, then his eyes widened as if connecting the dots. He rushed out to the balcony where Red Eyes Black Dragon was sitting, looking up at Atem. He looked down at the beast with skeptical eyes. "Are you Jono?"

The dragon flew up to the balcony before transforming into a being with familiar blond hair in a white garmet around his waist. He looked up with eyes that glowed bright red. This made Atem speechless. It was Joey, only...

"'Bout time you recognized me," Jono smirked, folding his arms.

 _"Red-Eyes Black Dragon. I'll be damn,"_ Atem muttered.

"You and Yugi have alot more in common than you realize, Atem. You had a terrible habit of sneaking off and making friends with the common folk. Remember when I said your father knew you would choose your friends over your birthright? This was the reason why: me, Yubel, Bakura, Jono... Teana," Jezerel mentioned, listing names as she showed each one of her fingers, counting.

"I would choose all of them."

"You shouldn't! That's your birthright, Pharaoh. I mean... you're the Pharaoh. You have the power of a god!" Jono argued.

"I'm not a god and... that isn't what you called me... Pharaoh," Atem said. He didn't know why, but he felt as if the name Jono called him felt... wrong. He concluded that this was not the name he was called. In fact, he felt the same way when Bakura called him Pharaoh, though thought it was because Bakura was evil.

Jono's eyes widened, jaw slightly gaped, then chuckled slightly, "you got me... Aten."

Atem paused for a second, then chuckled, "ah, I changed my name, so you wouldn't know I was royalty? Interesting."

"Normally, the townspeople wouldn't know the name of the Prince of Egypt, so even if you were to say your real name it wouldn't matter. You gave them a name similar to your real one, so that when you became Pharaoh, they wouldn't be arrested for being disrespectful toward the Pharaoh," Jezerel smirked as Atem chuckled. Yes, it made perfect sense at the time. Now, it didn't really matter, since Ancient Egypt was Ancient History and even the Spirit World didn't play that game anymore.

"Yep. Got us fooled and I punched you in the face for it. By the way, your priests are a bunch of jackasses. I mean you practically lied to me for almost ten years! At least I wasn't Bakura. He dragged your father's corpse from the Valley of the Kings. I'm bad, but I'm not _that_ bad," Jono said, crossing his arms.

"For some reason, I think I always felt like I knew you when I met Joey Wheeler," Atem admitted.

"Still friends, even with amnesia. I tend to visit you after you sealed your soul. I was hoping I would stick around, so you would remember me. I guess that didn't work."

"I think it did," Atem replied with a simple smile, placing a hand on Jono's shoulder. Jono smiled, then hugged Atem.

"I'll still punch you in the face, if you lie to me like that again."

"I'll keep that in mind," Atem smirked slightly, then his face turned to wonder. "We were friends, not just you, but Bakura too. Can you tell me about Bakura? About Teana? About you? Where all of you fit in my life?"

"Uh... I don't wanna overwhelm you Aten. I know you have a lot on your plate," Jono replied honestly.

"I want to know... at least as much as I can."

Jono nodded, then sighed, "well, first off, when all of us first became friends, we only knew you as Aten. It started with Teana and I. Teana had the biggest crush on you at the time." He chuckled slightly. "We grew up together as kids and spent time playing together. We later met Bakura, who... well... he was having a hard time. His home was destroyed, you know. We helped him as much as we could and he was the sweetest guy you'd ever meet. He lost everything, but always kept a smile on his face. He was the kind of person that wanted a laugh outta you."

"How did he... with Zorc and...?"

"... there's... there's a lot you don't know and I can't tell you right now with everything that's happening. Know this, Memory World keeping your friendship with Bakura from you wasn't your father's idea. It was Bakura's."

"What? _Why?_ "

"He had to in order to keep Zorc from knowing your real name and so that you could defeat Zorc. There are a lot of good memories you and Bakura had that were kept from Memory World for good reason, especially taking your father's corpse from the Valley of the Kings."

"What part of Memory World is true and fiction? What part of my memories are real?"

"I think you know, Aten. Some of it is hinted in many of the previous Shadow Games. It isn't just played in Memory World."

 _"Monster World?"_ Atem questioned, remembering that RPG game he first played against Bakura.

It was when he was first introduced with Ryou's evil spirit of the ring. Now, he has come to realize that even that game hinted more truths to his memories. He began remembering when the evil spirit, at the end of the game, tried to use cheating dice only for them to break into pieces. It seemed as if Ryou's spirit appeared from the dice to tell the evil spirit that he would not let him take away any more friends. Then, it came to him, how could Ryou be the spirit of the dice and on the game board as a player, unless... Could it be that the real Bakura from Ancient Egypt was also possessed and controlled by Zorc, both in Ancient Egypt and in the Ring? If this was true, then is it possible those memories of their friendship were taken from him, so that Atem would not hold back in stopping Zorc? Was the reason Atem couldn't stop Zorc in Ancient Egypt... because of Bakura?

 _"Bakura!"_

 _"You think you can stop- auh! You filthy- ah!"_

 _"I won't let you hurt my friends, Zorc! I will stop you! I WILL FIGHT!"_


	6. Race to the Finish

**Yay! The kiddy trio is together at last. Honestly, I love the idea of Mokuba, Leon and Rebecca being close friends. I don't know. They just seem to have a good connection. Review please!**

Leon had placed his backpack under the seat of his motorcycle as he heard his brother walk up from behind, recognizing the sigh. Zigfried always did this whenever someone did something he didn't approve of. Leon already knew why, so he didn't really care, then placed the helmet on his head, strapping it.

"Why do you insist on riding that thing? We're Von Schroeder's. We don't drive bikes or motorcycles," Zigfried said.

"If you have a problem with what I ride, maybe you can drive me back home," Leon replied.

"I swear, Leon. I know it's those Kaiba's. They're a bad influence on you."

"They don't drive motorcycles."

Zigfried twitched his eyes in annoyance as Leon sighed, then started the engine on his ride before leaving. He seriously didn't want to deal with his brother when he started acting this way. Not that he didn't understand why, Zigfried was stressing out over the Prophets claiming their stocks and the souls of their valuable customers. Leon just hated dealing with Zigfried when he was in a mood. The over-stress caused Leon to think irrationally. It was too bad that this would be the last conversation they would have before Leon would cross the path of no return.

Leon stopped at what looked almost like a ghost town. Yep, looks like the Prophets attacked this area. Perfect. Getting off his bike, he opened his seat to reveal his backpack, which he unzipped. There were extra clothes inside, which he removed from his backpack. Then, he parked his bike, walking to a trashcan, which he opened, revealing a rather large dummy. Leon, making sure no one was watching, took off his clothes and placed them on the dummy before changing into the extra clothes he brought with him. Then, he set the dummy on the bike, staring at the dummy that looked exactly like him.

'There should be enough of my donated blood I've saved for quite sometime. Hopefully, this should be enough to distract my brother for a while, so I can leave and help my friends,' Leon thought, then unparked his bike and placed a rock on the gas before the motorcycle took off. The motorcycle ran itself into a building, crashing and burning.

A horse approached near Leon, revealing to be Rebecca, who took off her pink helmet. She asked, staring at the fire, "think that will be enough?"

"Definitely," Leon replied, being helped saddle onto the horse behind Rebecca, who gave him an extra helmet. "God, I'm going to be so fired for this."

Rebecca took a hold of the reigns, then signaled her horse to dash from the scene before the smoke could get the attention of the police department. Rebecca made her horse gallop as fast as he could from the city. She was determined to bring Leon to safety. Leon hung onto Rebecca, looking back at the smoke that was rising and catching the attention of the police they were avoiding.

Suddenly, a green knight on a black stallion came up beside them, revealing green reigns on the horse.

"Rebecca, we've got company!" Leon warned his friend as the roads suddenly changed to a green color, green fire blazing beside the roads that they were riding on.

"Oh no!" Rebecca cried.

"How about a race? If you lose, I will take both your souls!" The Prophet Rider challenged, showing a deadly smirk under the green knight helmet.

"Ride Rebecca!" Leon cried out.

"Riding!" Rebecca replied with determination as the horses began galloping side by side.

* * *

"What do you mean Leon's dead!" Zigfried yelled at the two police officers.

"We found Mr. Leon Von Schroeder's motorcycle totaled near an apartment complex. There was alot of fire, we could hardly get any blood samples, but the sample we received is obviously from him... We're very sorry," One officer stated.

"Unless I find a body, I refuse to believe this!"

"We can show you what we've found, but there's no doubt your brother is dead."

"Fine!" Zigfried replied angrily. He knew his brother too much. Of course he would try something as desperate as this.

Zigfried entered into his limo and was guided to the scene where his brother was to have died. Along the way, he noticed a wall of bright green flames, two horses racing against each other. The horses were too fast to catch who the riders were. His eyes widened slightly at the scene.

"What is that?" Zigfried asked the driver.

"I-I'm not sure, sir," the limo driver replied as Zigfried stared at the green-flamed road. His heart began to twitch and ache.

In a matter of minutes, the limo was far from the green-flaming road, then stopped at the scene of the wreck. Zigfried entered out, then stared at the motorcycle and the flaming smoke. There was a bit of blood and clothes that Leon had worn before taking off. Zigfried refused to believe that his brother was dead. He knew Leon. He was sneaky when it came to Mokuba and would pull off something like this. He never listened to Zigfriend, never.

Yet...

"We're very sorry, sir," the officer stated.

Zigfried stared at the motorcycle, then behind him at the bit of the road with green flames. His heart was aching once more. Leon was...

"Nothing we can do now," Zigfried replied sadly, shaking his head. He stared at the police officer. "What can you tell me about these Prophets I've been hearing about?"

"F-From what I can tell you, they continually are collecting souls and placing people in coma-like states. We're still trying to figure out a cure or something."

"There's no cure! Their souls are extracted from their bodies! Before my brother died, he was investigating this shit with Mokuba. I'll give you as much as Leon got out from his computer," Zigfried replied.

"Thank you, sir."

"Don't. Thank Leon. If you still believe he's dead, check Kaiba Corp or that road over there," Zigfried replied, pointing to the green-flaming road as the officers stared at the road as two horses passed the road, still racing. Their faces were deadpanned. "You'll find your answers from him. Tell him I'll let him off the hook this time." He turned to his assistant. "Let's go."

"Y-Yes sir," Zigfried's assistant replied, following Zigfried to the limo.

* * *

Rebecca continually rode along the road with green flames for walls. Leon was riding behind, holding on for dear life. For a mere second, he watched a limo that belonged to non other than his older brother. Through the green flame, he was able to see his brother's expression through the tinted window. The expression he saw on Zigfried was that of a painful one, as if something in his gut was telling him where Leon really was.

"Hang on, Leon!" Rebecca shouted as Leon focused his attention back to the race. There seemed to be trash bins, wooden poles and stairs along the way.

Hanging onto Rebecca from the waist, Leon cried out, "I know you're good with horse riding, but does that include rodeo!?"

While the horse and stallion were neck in neck, Rebecca rode her horse up three stairs, then began making turns to avoid the trash bins, while also jumping over a few poles. Leon could swear he saw a smirk up the blond's lips. The black stallion began closing in against Rebecca and her horse. Leon could feel the tension rising. He _really_ didn't want to know what green flames felt like burning against his skin. At the same time, he didn't want to fall off the horse, especially at the speed they were going.

Rebecca glared at the Prophet with determination in her eyes. She wasn't going to let this loser cheat and take her soul. She purposely slowed the pace of her horse, so she wouldn't be closed in before riding from behind to the other side of the track, catching up along the way. The Prophet seemed to be annoyed as his horse seemed to barely miss the turn on the trash cans.

"That guy is probably going to try to close on us again!" Leon said.

"I know!" Rebecca replied, noticing the Prophet galloping on its way toward her to close her in again against the green-flamed road.

"Does the Seal of Orichalcose take souls of cheaters?" Leon asked.

"Why?"

As soon as the Prophet started gaining closer to Rebecca again, Leon took this opportunity to kick the rider, who was struggling to hang on. He angrily began trying to kick Leon in response very quickly before putting his foot back beside the horse to order it to jump over a few steps. Leon paid close attention to the Prophet, who shot daggers at him. The Prophet then smirked, eyeing at Rebecca. Leon knew the rider would try to use this maneuver on Rebecca.

Leon locked his legs tightly against the horse, while his arms held Rebecca from the waist and hips. Her eyes widened, but kept her focus as the Prophet began trying to kick Rebecca off before feeling a hard kick from Leon against his own leg.

"ACK!" The Prophet cried as Rebecca gasped, realized what was taking place.

"Leon, you're nuts!" Rebecca yelled.

"He was cheating!" Leon cried.

"And, it's going to get us killed, if we don't win!"

"As if he wasn't intending on killing us!" Leon replied, then sighed. "At least we're ahead."

"Until we get to the end of the Finish Line!" Rebecca said as her horse just crossed the Finish Line and the flames began to die off.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The Prophet cried as his stallion kicked him off and the green circle surrounded him, taking his soul.

"Let's get out of here," Leon said as Rebecca galloped down the street in haste.

Rebecca made sure to avoid any Prophets they may come across before they finally made it to Kaiba Corp. Mokuba came with guards and a few employees, who seemed to be very shock at the display in front of them. Mokuba, however, just sighed, while shaking his head.

"One little horse ride cannot be that traumatizing for you, Leon," Mokuba said.

"We ran into a Prophet," Rebecca explained, then glared at Leon. "You can let go now."

"R-Right," Leon said, slowly ungriping his arms from Rebecca's waist, then sliding down off the horse.

"Why are you bringing a Schroeder? You know he's Kaiba Corp's biggest rival and he had his hands on your girlfriend," a security guard asked.

"Schroeder Corp. is having the same issues as we are and _you_ haven't seen him flirt with women," Mokuba replied with a smudge, smartass tone that seemed to run among the Kaiba's.

"Any updates, since we left?" Rebecca asked, crossing her arms.

"Jaylin's heading South. Other than that..."

"We also ran into a Prophet. How many of these guys are there? Many of them have been storming Schroeder Corp," Leon replied, brushed off his shakiness from the horse race.

"I can't count, but we need to keep an eye on them. You need to give your brother as much information on these guys as you can. I can only gain what I can from here," Mokuba replied as Leon nodded before the trio heard sirens from the cops that stopped by.

"Mr. Kaiba sir, this is Officer Larry. Zigfried Schroeder of Schroeder Corp. told me you know something about these so called _Prophets_ that are bringing people into comatose states. Also, he's wanted me to inform Mr. Leon Von Schroeder that he's letting him _off the hook_ this time," Officer Larry spoke as Leon blinked in surprise, while Mokuba rolled his eyes.


	7. Atem's Hidden Memories

**So, this basically explains Bakura's friendship with Atem. It's quite sweet and actually shows the strength of their bond. This also explains Atem's friendship with Jono and Teana. This will also be showing important events that will happen in the third sequel of Yu-Gi-Oh DA. Atem's full memories will not return until then. Review please!**

Atem was hiding inside a straw cart, traveling to a small town far from the palace. Very soon, he looked around, then slipped out of the cart before brushing the straw off his white kalasiris around his waist with a simple belt. There would be no way anyone could tell if he was a prince or not, since he wasn't wearing his usual spiky-haired wig that made him too showy as a prince. He then began walking around the town, looking confident, but feeling nervous.

He heard there was a diaha competition in this small town and he wanted to participate. Of course, being a prince, he was not supposed to participate in such _peasantry games_. Though, Atem was so curious and he heard many kids his age would be here. He was already ten years old and technically a man, so why shouldn't he make his own decisions? He had to appear in this competition.

"Excuse me, but could you tell me where the competition is at?" Atem asked a villager.

"You must not be from around here. Are you a traveler?" The villager asked.

"I came here from afar to participate in the Diaha Competition here."

"And, you think you have what it takes to beat our champion?"

"I am confident."

"I'll give you this, I love your spunk. Our champion is over here. No one has ever defeated him," The villager replied, leading Atem to a market town square where a large bug monster was fighting against a red-eyed black dragon before being defeated.

The black dragon blew a firey blast at the bug, wiping it out before the villager cringed in pain, landing on one knee to admit defeat. His opponent stood over him with a cocky, but confident smirk, brushing through his thick blond hair. One hand was on his hip as the black dragon stood in front of his master.

"Another one bites the dust. Pay up!" The blond champion said as the townspeople applauded and cheered for their champion for another win. The losing opponent paid up his due to the champion.

"Is that him?" Atem asked the villager.

"It is, Jono, the owner of his spirit ka, the Red-Eyes Black Dragon. So far, no one has managed to defeat him," the villager said as Atem smiled, eyes sparkling with interest.

Everyone continued applauding and cheering before Atem ran up, then shouted, "I challenge you to a diaha!"

Jono looked directly at the boy in front of him, who looked to be no younger than him. His hair was shaved, so there was no doubt that he was at least of a middle class family. More than that, he seemed confident and held pride in his skills. This brought Jono's interest.

"Let's see what you got, shrimp," Jono replied as Atem showed a smirk of his own.

The boys stood across from each other as Atem raised his arm into the air, then a glowing blue surrounded him before his body fainted onto the ground and there summoned a knight in dark blue armor with golden trim, pulling out his sword and ready to fight. Jono's eyes widened in surprise. Usually, in a diaha, his opponent always summoned their monsters from within, while still conscious, but this boy was unconscious. He couldn't control what his monster did. Even the village people seemed to be in dismay.

"Um... the Ka that disappears loses. Diaha!" The announcer declared as the two monsters began to fight.

The Red-Eyes Black Dragon began his attack before the knight shielded himself with his sword. The dragon then began attacking the knight with his jaw before the sword clashed against its teeth. The knight then jumped into the air, then slashed its sword across the dragon. The dragon screeched into the air before bursting into dust. Jono cringed in pain before the knight landed on his feet, then disappeared. Atem woke up, then got back on his feet before showing his confident smirk.

"Looks like I win," Atem replied.

"H-How did you do that? You were out cold and it was like you could control your monster's movements in your sleep," Jono asked awestruck.

"I trust Black Luster Soldier. I can subconsciously talk to him before summoning him. I give him a simple command and he obeys."

"And, you trust he won't hurt anyone or something?"

"Black Luster Soldier has always been loyal to me, so I trust him."

Jono looked at Atem with shock-filled eyes before laughing. He said, "you're pretty something, I'll give you that. What's your name?"

"At...en. My name is Aten," Atem replied, once again confident.

"Weird name. I like you. Here..." Jono said, leading Atem near the square where they diaha. There was a young girl with short brown hair and a simple tunic. "This is my friend, Tiana. Tiana, this is my new friend, Aten."

"Did you get in trouble with the guards again?" Teana asked.

"What!? No, I didn't! Ugh, I spill a basket of eggs one time ONE TIME and you still won't let that die," Jono grumbled as Teana gigged. Atem chuckled with her.

"Nice to meet you, Aten. Did you just move or are you a traveler?"

"I'm... from out of town. I heard there was a competition here, so I traveled here to meet the champion of Kamet," Atem replied.

"Sorry about that. Jono can get out of hand."

"Hey! I do not! I am the champion of Kamet or at least will be as soon as I find out how to beat that Black Luster Soldier!" Jono glared as Atem laughed.

"I can hardly wait for that to happen," Atem replied. This would be the start of a close friendship he would have with Jono and Teana, but it never ended there.

* * *

It would not be more than several months later when a small boy began walking by with dirty, slightly burned clothes. His dirtied white hair covered almost his face and he was red hot and sweaty. His legs were struggling to stand up. He was lucky to have found a nearby town, after his village was destroyed. He had struggled to survive, having been lucky to find a little bit of water and food. Ribs could be seen poking from his waist and muscle seemed to be slowly wearing from his arms and legs.

As the boy struggled to walk to the supermarket square, he stared at the food in the market, then his stomach. He placed his hand over his starving belly as he tried to go to different people, hoping to find small change to spare. Some gave him a few coins or two, but not enough to buy a loaf of bread.

"Please... do you have any spare change?" The boy asked weakly from one person to another before being shoved and knocked over on the ground, change spilling everywhere.

The boy struggled to collect all the spilled change before other townspeople kicked the change in the sand and others even stole some, laughing.

"Where you come from, boy? Not from here are you?" A villager asked, holding up a few of the boy's coins.

"Please... I n-need those..." the boy pleaded as the villager laughed, throwing the coins at the person.

"I hear he's from that place called Kul Elna. Isn't that where crooked thieves live?" Another villager asked.

"Is that so? I heard the last Kul Elna survivor kidnapped the prince and tried to sacrifice his soul to the Shadow Realm," a female villager said as the boy backed in fear, panting.

"Well, we can't have another traitor on our hands, can we," the boy's attacker said, smirking as he took a hold of the boy by the arm.

"Please, leave me alone, I just want food! That's all I ask for!" The boy pleaded.

"Why? So you would have the chance to sacrifice the prince? I'm afraid not, boy," the attacker replied, tossing the boy to the ground before taking his knife and slowly cutting across his face. The boy screamed. "Let me take out your eyes first. Eye for an eye."

"NO!" The boy cried painfully, feeling the blood seeping across his face, expecting pain in his eye.

Before the attacker could cut the boy's eye, however, a blade was felt across the attacker's throat. His hands froze and fear came about him, realizing that someone was about to slit his throat.

"Remove the blade from him and step away," a voice said in a cold command as the attacker took the blade from the boy's face, then dropped it. Afterwards, the attacker backed away, seeing a small boy with a knife in his hand, ready to attack at any given moment. "You are scum. Go back to the depths of hell you came from." The attacker ran as fast as his legs could carry him. The small boy with the knife, pointed it at all the other village people that cheered on the attack. "Anyone else?" Everyone returned back to what they were doing.

The boy wielded his knife, then got out a cloth, to stop the bleeding. He said, "press that here, while I take you someplace safe, so you may get treated. We have food and water." He helped the white-haired boy up, then led him to a home inside the village.

"Hey Aten- oh sweet mother of Ra, what happened!?" Teana cried in shock, seeing a starving boy with a wounded face.

"I found him at the market being beaten and attacked by some scum. He needs food, water and treatment," Atem replied as Teana nodded, wasting no time in getting a bucket of water and a cloth to help clean the wound.

"Here, this will sting a bit," Teana said, cleaning out the wound before wrapping it with some cloth.

"Th-Thank you," the boy whispered before Atem got out some bread and beer he bought at the market with some coins he was able to snatch for food when visiting his friends.

"Here, take as much as you need," Atem offered.

"No... I couldn't possibly..." the boy muttered.

"No, I insist," Atem replied with a small, gracious smile as Bakura took the bread, then hungrily at it. He also drank the beer.

"This should heal very soon. If you want, I can ask Jono if he has extra room at his home. He knows the best places to work at and make your way here. It's a small town with its cruel people, but there are very friendly people here too. You can always come to us, if you need a friend," Teana offered with such kind eyes.

"Thanks. I came here for work and perhaps a new life?" the boy replied.

"Then, look no farther."

"Thank you... you are truly the kindest people I've met thus far," the boy replied with a small smile.

"What's your name?" Atem asked.

"Bakura."

"Bakura, welcome to our little group. It's not much, but we take care of each other like family," Teana replied as Bakura smiled brightly, perhaps for the first time since his village was destroyed. He could feel some tears in his eyes too.

* * *

It was only several months before his wound healed, but now remained as a scar. Bakura stared down a the Nile, touching his healed scar that was red. Atem walked, then sat down next to him. He stared across the Nile as Bakura sat back, sighing.

 _"It looks permanent,"_ Bakura muttered weakly.

"Perhaps, but it fits you," Atem replied as Bakura smiled weakly.

"Thank you. You and the others have all been so kind to me. I was planning on just working here for a while before returning to my old village and rebuilding it, but... you have all been like a new family to me and I don't want to lose it. I want... I want to stay here. It's not Kul Elna, but... it's nice."

"It's up to you. We'll be with you all the way."

"... could you keep a secret?"

"Sure," Atem replied, his smile turning into a slight frown.

"My village, it was slaughtered by the Pharaoh's men, led by his brother. I saw him with my own eyes. I was coming here to save money to travel to the palace and avenge my village, but now... I think I would like to protect this small town. I don't want it to meet the same fate as Kul Elna. I want it to be a home for anyone to come and seek refuge. Perhaps it can be a refuge for the spirits of my people," Bakura replied.

"Wh-What do you mean?" Atem asked, having never heard anything about what happened with Kul Elna, let alone his uncle's involvement.

"I will show you. Though, you must promise to fulfill my mission to bring rest to my people that died in Kul Elna."

"Bakura... I... I don't know if I am worthy enough for something like that. There's so much about me you don't know," Atem admitted truthfully. He couldn't make a promise like that when he was already lying about his own life to his friends. This would be a burden too big for him.

"Then, share your secrets..." Bakura asked as Atem turned. His friend's smile showing confidence. "Atem."

Atem's blood drained. That was his real name and not only did Bakura say it fully, but he didn't even include 'Prince.' Though, Bakura still showed his good friendly nature, telling Atem he wasn't planning anything against him or showing hostility. Still Atem felt nervous and possibly afraid. Bakura took hold of Atem's hand, placing it against his palm, the blade of his knife between their hands. He knew this was the ritual of a blood oath. Bakura was being serious.

"You will be forever cursed, because of your Uncle. You will possess the cursed millennium items from the blood of my people. With this covenant, my people will forever follow you into your afterlife. I only wish to free my people by whatever means. You are the only one who could. Free them from this curse. With this blood, we are forever bonded," Bakura said pleadingly.

Atem knew the risks. Bakura would be his enemy, the enemy of his family. By doing this, he would have to go against everything his family stood for. But, what his uncle did, the attack on the village, it cursed the Pharaoh line. He never saw himself as a god, never will. He placed his fingers around the handle of the blade, over Bakura's fingers as they both pulled the knife, slitting their hands as blood mixed. They were now forever bonded by blood.

* * *

"Sir, are you going to finish that?" A bartender asked with a grumpy expression as a white-haired male, now called the Thief King, rose with a smashed face. He took the glass of beer, then drank the rest of it before smashing it against the counter. The bartender sighed. "I'll get you more... drunk ass."

"Heh, you don't know the half of it," the thief king smirked drunkly. He was no longer wearing the red coat he once did in Memory World, but a worn out cloth around his waist.

"Bakura," the thief king heard a voice from someone he had not heard from in years.

"Heh, hello Pharaoh, glad to see your old friend again. How's the Underworld working for you? Must be glorious, full of gold, riches and power at the tip of your fingers HAHAHAHA!" Bakura replied, laughing drunkly. He thought Atem was an illusion.

"Bakura, why did you strip away precious memories we had from Memory World?" Atem asked calmly, sitting next to Bakura.

" _Precious memories._ Did years in the Underworld turn you into some sort of prophet, because you are speaking like you came out of a literature book," Bakura laughed, then took the ale given to him before it was stripped away from Atem, who then proceeded to drink the entire glass before smashing it against the bar. The bartender sighed, refilling another glass.

Bakura, meanwhile, stared at Atem, who showed seriousness in his eyes. He suddenly felt the drunkness kicking in as Bakura muttered, _"I think that will be enough for me."_

"Need help carrying you back?" Atem asked.

"Maybe," Bakura replied, his eyes looking sick as Atem gave some coins to the bartender to pay for all of Bakura's drinks.

Atem took Bakura and led him out of the pub in the village of the Spirit World that was once called Kul Elna 3000 years ago. What surprised Atem was how the villagers seemed to treat him with kindness and respect, though did not call him Pharaoh. Other Pharaohs that came here were usually responded with curses and angry mobs. Something felt off about this. As Atem began helping Bakura to his home, he was stopped by a village girl.

"Your Majesty, would you like fresh water and bread," the village girl asked.

"Water is alright. Thank you," Atem asked with a warm smile.

"Of course."

"If you don't mind me asking, why is everyone so kind? Usually, this village isn't so much to other Pharaohs," Atem asked, not mentioning how the other Pharaohs, including his father, considered this to be cursed.

"The Pharaohs, have cursed this village to its demise, your father especially," the girl replied bitterly. She then looked up with soft eyes. "You do not share their curse. You are the Chaos King."

"Chaos King?"

"Yes, one destined with the Supreme King and Dark Queen. You are the Chaos King. Had not your father intervened, this village would have been your kingdom. For now, it is under the Thief King until you take your place in your throne. Until then, we will forever wait for your presence. Until your memories fully return. We will forever be loyal to you, my king."

Atem blinked as Bakura chuckled, smiling a bit. Atem nodded, "thank you." He then proceeded into Bakura's house and laid him on his mat, laying a blanket over him. There was so much more he had yet knew. The village girl brought fresh water and Atem gave it to Bakura to drink.

"Why did you wipe out all our memories, Bakura?" Atem asked calmly.

"You failed to stop Zorc last time, Atem... you would fail again," Bakura replied. Now, that he knew Atem wasn't an illusion, he called him by his true name. Atem didn't mind his friends calling him by his name, but others of Ancient Egypt would consider this disgraceful or disrespectful. Yet, Bakura was an exception for some reason. Another lapsed memory? "It was my fault Zorc was let loose. I wanted to avenge my village and I placed my friends in danger because of it. I was nothing, but a puppet. I thought taking away our memories would makeup betraying you and everyone. We did so much together, playing games, going on crazy adventures, protecting our village... it almost seemed worth taking away the memories of a traitor to lessen the hurt."

"Bakura, Zorc tricked you. I hardly call that traitor quality."

"Heh, then I would consider you too soft for your own good. You really are. You were the only person to notice someone like me and show me kindness. Even after we became friends, even revealed that I knew your royal status without explanation how, you still protected me and my people. You even helped save that small village when your royal family never cared to defend it. I wish I was worthy of your friendship."

"You don't need to be worthy. You _are_ my friend. We are friends. I don't want my memories to be wiped of those important memories. You're just as precious to me as the friends I've made in the palace, in the present world, in Babylon and with Jono and Teana. All of you are precious and they have been passed down to my partner and his friends. His friends are the reincarnates of Jono, Teana and you, even Seth."

"Ryou, right? I've doomed him too," Bakura said as Atem hugged him. "Atem, you really are too soft, but then that's why I like you."

"It's alright. Everything will be alright."

"If it's any consideration, your memories will be returned once you claim your rightful throne as Chaos King. Only then will your memories of us return," Bakura replied with a cunning smirk before drunkness placed him to sleep.

"Chaos King," Atem whispered with a small frown.


End file.
